manchin. >> jig axelrod reports on the first day of school for students. >> seeing the kids, that just does wonders for you. >>itate's new u.s. senate sets a record for women, and turns out to witness a courageous back for the capitol. and combat surgeon lee warren thought he couldn't save's soldier. >> the captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley.

>> pelley: for three weeks, everyone in newtown, connecticut, has longed to return to normal. today, many of them caught a bus to get there. more than 400 students, kindergarten through fourth grade, returned to class for the first time since a gunman killed 20 of their classmates and six educators. they traveled to the nearby town of monroe where a closed school was reopened for them and renamed sandy hook elementary. we don't know whether this boy was sininalling peace or victory, but both seemed about right. jim axel sod in newtown for us tonight. >> reporter: one police lieutenant here called the new school th the safest school in america. i.d. checks on every adult who

got anywhere near the place. police sat down with the superintendent. >> the thing that had been missing at the new sandy hook location were the voices and the laughter of children. and that was there today. >> reporter: did you have any parents not able to just let the hand go? >> that's very hard. i-- there were parents who wanted too put their child on the bus and just couldn't quite do it. so understandable. >> reporter: over the hol days, volunteers helped to make the new school feel like the old school. desks and chairs were moved. the hope was facility would bring comfort. i'm told one parent was watching their kid and said the kid really felt comfortable when they actually saw their old cubbyhole. >> those are the things they know. the children-- children like things that are a routine they

know, and they like the objects they know. >> reporter: there's no instruction manual for this, is there? >> i've said that a number of times lately. there's no instruction manual. >> reporter: so what's bee been guiding you? >> what's in the best interest of the people. most importantly what's in the best interest of the kids. >> reporter: is it possible for to you even get your arms around the idea that everything that's happened-- and we're not talking even three weeks yet? >> so much has happened in a short period of time that it seems much longer, so it's-- it's still that nightmare we keep waiting to wake up from. upon. >> reporter: how crucial was today as a step in the journey? >> today was a major step in the journey. it let parents feel reassured that their children were going to be able to go back to school, be able to enjoy the joys of

childhood. it let the teachers know how strong they really are and that they could do if, too it. >> reporter: all but 16 of the roughly 500 students at sandy hook elementary were in school today. we're told that's typical, given all the sniffles and cough and sickness in january. and all but three teachers were there. two were sick. only one teacher, we're told, just wasn't ready yet, scott. >> pelley: jim, the school where the shootings occurred is still closed. i wonder that they think they're going to do with that. >> reporter: you know, when you ask that question now, you hear the following-- it hasn't even been three weeks yet, the superintendent told us, and it's just too soon to get a sense what if anything will happen with the old sandy hook elementary school, and whether or not any child will ever go to class there again. >> pelley: a new day there, jim, thanks very much. if anyone knows what sandy hook children were going through today it is the students who survived the massacre at columbine high school in littleton, colorado.

nearly 14 years ago. they, of course, are grown up now, and ana werner talked to one of them. ana. >> reporter: well, scott, columbine high school was closed from the day of the shooting in april 1999 all august of that year, and the reopening of that school caps a long recovery for at least one survivor, patrick ireland. >> there are a lot of challenges that went on in these weeks and months. i think the biggest aspect of it was just the love and support from the community. >> reporter: patrick ireland was 17 when he was shot. he became known as "the boy in the window." it took him three hours to get there. he crawled past dead classmates. despite gunshot wounds to his head and leg that left him partially paralyzed. >> there were a number of times where i was just passing in and out of consciousness and wondering, you know, what was going to happen next. if the gunmen would come back in. >> reporter: the library where he and other students were shot

was torn down. ( applause ) four months passed before columbine students returned to their school. they turned it into a celebration. ireland was there. how important was that moment for you going back to that school? >> it was very important to be able to kind of regain control. it was almost symbolic of, hey, this is one of the ways i'm not going to let evil win. >> reporter: it was hard to trust people again? >> i think being able to overcome an event like that, move on, there has to be some level of trust that you still put in people and in the human spirit. >> reporter: today, ireland is a director at a financial services company. he's marry wade two-year-old daughter. but nothing can fully erase that april day 14 years ago. you carry that with you. >> every day. there's a lot of us that lived with those-- whether they're visible or not visible-- scars. there's the opportunity to move

forward and to continue to live your life with courage and be able to still accomplish some great things. >> reporter: well, columbine high school is still closed on one day, april 20, the anniversary of the shooting. the school still has the same principal, and, scott, he told us recently it never really gets back to normal. you just have to create a new normal. >> pelley: ana, thanks very much. the new if 113th congress it convened today. in the house, the republican majority narrowly re-elected john boehner to a second term as speaker. boehner is the most powerful republican in government, but he was sorely embarrassed two weeks ago when he couldn't persuade even his own party to back his fiscal cliff solution. boehner said today public life isn't supposed to be easy living. nancy pelosi, already of the democrates, presented him with the speaker's gavel. asun, pelosi was the first woman to be elected house speaker in 2007, and now today, the senate

has made history with a record number of women. nancy cordes is on capitol hill. >> reporter: when 113 new senators took the oath today, five were woman. they bring the rank of women senators to 20 air, full one-fifth of a legislative body that was all male as recentlials the 1970s. >> but the quality of these women is so incredible. >> reporter: democrat heidi heitkamp is a new senator from north dakota. >> i'm hoping it will mean this body becomes more collaborative, more willing to compromise. >> reporter: the last time five women were lexingtond to the senate was in 1992, and it was dubbed "the year of the woman." maryland democrat barbara mikulski was one of them. >> it was forbidden for women to wear trousers on the senate floor. when i stepped out in my slackes, you would have thought i was walking on the moon. >> i really look forward to working with you. >> reporter: the new members

will become part of a long-standing tradition. all the female senators from both parties get together for lunch once a month to talk about policy and their personal lives. >> that's how you work with people. >> reporter: republican deb fischer is a new senator from nebraska. >> it doesn't matter if you're in the united states senate or if you have a job anywhere else. you work on the relationships by knowing the people you're with, what their interests are. >> reporter: it's a big shift from the first women senators. hattie wyatt caraway in 1931, and margaret chase smith in 1949 who had to go int alone. how long do you think it will take to get to 50 women senators? >> i think we'll be able to do this in less than 15 years. we're accepted. we know how to raise our money. we know how to raise hell. we know how to organize everything from grass roots all the way up. >> reporter: mikulski just became chair of the powerful appropriations committee, the

first woman to hold that position. and, scott, over in the house of representatives, the number of women dipped two years ago, but as of today's swearing in, it is back up to 78, t all-time high. >> pelley: nancy, thank you. un, we noticed today that every member of the new hampshire delegation is a woman. they appeared last month at a forum with the new governor, maggie hassan, on the left. next to her it ann aclane kuster and carol shea-porter:00d to the house, joining senators kelly ayotte, and jeanne shaheen. no member of the congress worked harder to get there today than republican senator mark kirk of ill notice. one year ago, at the age of 52, he had a stroke, and it left him unable to walk and barely able to talk. kirk spent months in an intensive rehabilitation program learning to speak, learning to walk, and learning to climb steps again, all with one goal in mind. >> to climb the 45 steps that my

staff counted from the parking lot to the senate front door. >> pelley: and today he did. >> welcome back, man. ( cheers and applause ). >> pelley: with the help of vice president bide open his right and democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia on his left, mark kirk climbed those 45 steps of the u.s. capitol. for the junior senator from illinois, the most triumphant steps yet on a long road to recovery. also recovering this week from a blood clot in the head is hillary clinton. one day after she was released from the new york hospital, her office said today that the secretary of state will be back at work next week. there's a new report out about some of the most dangerous drivers on the road. gun sales in california hit a record, but gun deaths are down. and thin ice forces two teens up a tree.

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>> reporter: what has business been like? >> business has been hectic. >> reporter: aristotle rogel works at a gun store in burbank, california. walk-in business is up 20% this month. many customers are buying more than one gun. are your customers buying now because they're afraid they won't be able to buy later if there are new gun laws? >> absolutely. stock up. and hopefully nothing happens. >> reporter: california gun sales have steadily risen from 350,000 in 2002 to last year's record. recently, some gun owners are become worried that president obama's reelection and the newtown shooting would lead to more gun control. military-style weapons have become popular for target practice and self-defense. yet, despite the rise in gun sales here in california, there has not been a corresponding rise in gun deaths, or gun injuries. hospitalizations for gun injuries have actually dropped nearly 28%, and gun deaths by 15%. >> when i see the sales go up,

i'm-- i'm-- i don't like that. my officers have to face these guns on the street. >> reporter: charlie beck is the chief of the los angeles police department. he credits a five-year crackdown on gangs in the drop in shooting deaths. gang crimes account for half the homicides in l.a. also, gun buy-back programs have taken nearly 10,000 guns off l.a. streets since 2009. >> what i worry about are guns that fall into the wrong hands, guns that are excess and become unwanted. those are the kind of guns that are used in murders in los angeles far too commonly. >> reporter: but the police cannot keep up. 2,000 guns they bought back last week is roughly the same number sold in california gun shops in one day. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. upon. >> pelley: here's a wake-up call for driverses. according to a new study by the centers for disease control, one in 24 motorists admits to

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take control of their security? kelly cobiella in kabul takes a look. >> reporter: from this processing plant on the edge of kabul, mustafa sadiq has built a $20 million fruit juice empire. melon. >> yes, melon. these come from hand car and helmand. >> reporter: he created 1,000 new jobs. despite suicide bombings near his factory and threats from kidnappers. now a new worry-- u.s. troops are starting to leave. >> i believe they do not realize when they leave the country, how bad effect that will have on the afghans. they came here and they stayed here for 10 years and they just are dumping us and leaving the country. >> reporter: sadiq told us he's disappointed with u.s. efforts to rebuild the country and worried the taliban may return. many afghans who can afford to leave are already making plans, carrying cash out of the country by the billions. at least $4.5 billion last year

alone, according to the afghan central bank. like many afghans we spoke with, sadiq told us he has no faith in the u.s.-trained security forces that are supposed to take over. >> we have a poor army, a poor police. >> reporter: in parts of the south where he buys po pomegranates and apples he says they're no match for the taliban. you have to deal with corruption? >> yes, of course. >. >> reporter: bribes? >> bribes, and things like that. >> reporter: so everyone is grabbing-- >> everybody is grabbing. i believe it's a far more serious problem than the war itself. >> reporter: big enough that sadiq fears corruption could bring down the government. do you think there will be civil war? >> for some of the people, war has become a business. if they are trying to get people

to fight it, but ordinary people in afghanistan, they are fed up with war. >> reporter: despite his fears, sadiq is gambling his country will withstand the u.s. withdrawal. he's invested too much to pull out now. kelly cobiella, cbs news, kabul. >> pelley: well, kelly has just told us just before christmas, taliban suicide bombers attacked an american company next door to sadiq. six of his workers were hurt and there was about $10 million of damage to his building, but sadiq told us he intends to rebuild. in arizona, a couple of teenagers had to be rescued from the ice about 180 miles northeast of phoenix. a dead tree became a safe haven for the boys who had wandered on to a frozen lake. they dwrabd on and hung on when the ice suddenly started to crack. it took about two hours for firemen way boat and a rope to rescue them. the boys were taken to a hospital it to be treated for mild hypothermia.

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>> pelley: we've shared with you many stories on this broadcast about america's wounded warriors and their struggles. but most folks don't realize the doctors who treat them face their own kind of trauma. david martin has one surgeon's story. >> reporter: the carnage lee warren encountered in the combat hospital at ballad, iraq, in 2005 was like nothing he had ever seen as a neurosurgeon and no patient was worse off than this soldier, brought in by helicopter after being hit by a roadside bomb. >> they unwrapped his head in the emergency room and looked at him and thought he was dead. >> reporter: he was, warren later wrote, one of the most horrifically injured people i have ever operated on. >> his scalp and the front part of his face-off all gone. and then i could see his frontal lobe on the left side sort of protruding out. >> reporter: his brain. >> his brain. it was exposed and hanging out. >> reporter: after four hours in surgery, warren and three other doctors managed to get him on a medevac flight out of iraq,

still alive. warren called the soldier's father but could offer little hope. >> i just didn't see how anybody with that injury could survive. >> reporter: warren left the military in & started a successful practice, but he had nightmares about all the wounded soldiers whose fate he never learned. finally, he faced his demons by opening a trunk he had brought back from iraq. he found bullets and shrapnel he had pulled from brains, and a thumb drive with files of his cases, including the soldier with that horrible head wound. warren looked him up online. >> he popped up on a cbs interview very much alive and well. >> reporter: he was army specialist paul statzer. when we met him at walter reed army medical center six months after he was hit. do you mind if we ask you to take off your helmet. >> no, i don't mind. >> reporter: wow. you lost a lot. he had lost part of his frontal lobe but was still coveragent.

>> i'm a little slow on certain things but not that bad. >> reporter: what's the lesson that a brain surgeon draws from that? >> the power of the human spirit and indomitable faith can do a lot, sometimes more than i can with my two hands. >> reporter: over the years, paul statzer has suffered multiple infections and seizures. he's not able to work and he's not up for another television interview. but when they met, he told the surgeon who thought he would never make it he is up for living. >> that was one of the questions i asked him, "are you happy? and he said, yeah. he said, "thanks for saving me." >> reporter: and with that, the patient helped asset doctor from his own demons of iraq. david martin, cbs news, auburn, alabama. >> pelley: and that's the cbs evening news for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

this is 9 news now. meet your new congress strikingly similar to the old congress. there are some 66 brand-new faces in the house, though, including maryland's john delaney and you can count virginia's tim kaine among the dozen freshmen in the u.s. senate. we have a look at what is involved on that legislative agenda. >> the house will come to order. >> >> reporter: it may be a new congress. >> this is the first time in history that the democratic house will be made up of a majority of women, minorities and